AUGUSTA – Waterville Mayor Paul LePage will hold his first news conference as the Republican nominee for governor Wednesday — a show of GOP unity after last week’s primary election.

LePage, 61, will be joined by some, if not all, of the six men he defeated for the party nomination, LePage campaign chief of staff John Morris said. The event is set for 11 a.m. on the front steps of Waterville City Hall.

Legislative leaders and one of the state’s two representatives to the Republican National Committee also will attend.

“It’s a show of unity,” Morris said. “The majority, if not all, of the candidates are going to be there.”

LePage finished first in a seven-way race for the nomination, capturing 37 percent of the vote. He was followed by Les Otten, with 17 percent; Sen. Peter Mills with 14.5 percent; Steve Abbott with 13 percent; Bill Beardsley with 9 percent; Bruce Poliquin with 5 percent and Matt Jacobson with 3 percent.

LePage said last week he will take a leave of absence from his job as general manager of Marden’s Surplus & Salvage so he can devote his attention to the fall campaign.

Democrats held a similar unity event last week to support their nominee, Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell.

LePage and Mitchell will face three independents in the fall: Eliot Cutler, of Cape Elizabeth; Shawn Moody, of Gorham; and Kevin Scott, of Andover.

 

MaineToday Media State House Reporter Susan Cover can be contacted at 620-7015 or at: scover@centralmaine.com

 

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